Characteristics of Secondary Muscle-Invasive Bladder Cancer (MIBC) Following Pelvic Irradiation - Expert Commentary
A recent study by Sha and colleagues queried the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) database to highlight the clinical characteristics and long-term outcomes of patients with RA-MIBC. The investigators identified a total of 1093 who were previously exposed to pelvic radiation therapy. Compared to primary MIBC, RA-MIBC patients were more likely to be older males previously treated for prostate cancer and to present with T4 disease at diagnosis (21.0% vs 17.3%, P < .001). For local therapy, patients with RA-MIBC were less likely to be candidates for radiation therapy or radical cystectomy. The median time to the development of RA-MIBC after radiation for the primary malignancy was eight years. RA-MIBC patients had higher 5-year bladder cancer-specific mortality across all subgroups (56.1% vs 35.3%, adjusted hazard ratio 1.24, P < .001) when compared to matched primary MIBC patients.
Despite the limitations of the study, it clearly emphasizes the distinct natural history of RA-MIBC. Rigorous studies examining the molecular characteristics of RA-MIBC are needed to understand the biology of these aggressive tumors.
Written by: Bishoy M. Faltas, MD, Director of Bladder Cancer Research, Englander Institute for Precision Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York City, New York
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